Gothus Angelus
by CSIalchemist
Summary: Sequel to 'Phantasma Nereiorum Formant'. Danny and his friends have started their final year of college and problems are already arising. Danny is trying to gather the courage and the right moment to ask Sam an important question while battling his inner desires for her. Meanwhile, Vlad returns to plot his revenge on Danny and the group to get what he wants.
1. White Collar Yacht Club

**I'm back! Behold! The long awaited sequel to PNF! I was going to wait until after finals were over, but with everything that's been going on in Boston (may God watch over the city), I figured y'all needed something to cheer you up. **

**Nothing major happens in this chapter. It's mainly a recap.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**White Collar Yacht Club**

"Samantha, why have you been coming to the White Collar Yacht Club when you're not even interested in riding the yachts?" Pamela Manson asked her twenty-two-year-old daughter.

Samantha, or "Sam", simply rolled her violet eyes. "I know the yacht club focuses on yachts, speed boats, sailboats, and all that crap, but I don't care about them. I have my own reasons," she replied.

"And what are they?" asked Pamela.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out sooner or later."

"Sammy, could you at least get reacquainted with some of your yacht club friends before you go back to college?"

Sam rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Why would I want to get reacquainted with people I've never even met? They say I know them but I don't."

"You used to love coming to the yacht club when you were younger," Pamela recalled.

"Yeah, after Vlad barred her from his beachside manor," Agnes, Sam's grandmother, said. "The only friends she made here were the war veterans. You're lucky Sammy did so well in history during high school."

"Well, why don't you go and get reacquainted with them?" Pamela asked Sam.

"Because, Mom, two of them died in the last five years, one is in a nursing home, another one has dementia, and three moved away," Sam explained.

"Those are just the World War II veterans," said Pamela. "Why don't you get acquainted with the Korean War veterans or the Vietnam veterans?"

Sam sighed in frustration. "There aren't any Vietnam vets who are members of the club and the Korean War vets are not interested in talking about their days in the war, especially with what's going on over there right now."

"Well, maybe if you should…"

Sam gasped. "Hey, is that a street urchin sneaking onto the grounds?" she asked, acting like she actually cared.

"What? Where?" Pamela ran off to turn away the nonexistent street urchin.

"Nice move, sweetie," Agnes complimented. "Why don't you get out of here before she comes back?"

Sam smiled at her grandmother. "Thanks, Grandma." She then ran off towards the docks. This was probably one of the most boring summers she'd ever had compared to what she'd been through this past year.

Ever since she was ten, Sam had been going to the White Collar Yacht Club every summer while her parents went to visit their friend, Vladimir Masters, at his beachside manor. The reason: she freed a young merman named Danny Fenton who was captured by Vlad to be experimented on. Sam and Danny became friends after Sam found him tangled up in a net on the beach. After Vlad saw them, he tried to capture the boy but Sam distracted Vlad long enough for Danny to escape.

Sam didn't see Danny again for eleven years. By the time Sam was in college, she met a boy with similar characteristics only he was human. At the same time, her merman friend had finally reappeared, even rescuing her after she was pushed from the pier. It wasn't until Labor Day weekend that Sam had finally put the pieces together and realized that the human boy and the merman from her childhood were one and the same.

Sam finally reached the end of the docks and looked out at the ocean. The pearl around her neck began to glow green. She quickly grabbed it to keep onlookers from noticing the light. The bat wings that were attached to it were sticking out in-between her fingers.

"What's a Goth freak like you doing at the yacht club?"

Sam scowled and turned around. A Latina girl was standing behind her. She wore a string bikini that stood out against her tan skin and it went well with her long black hair.

"You're not in Spain, Paulina," Sam answered. "Swimsuits like that should only be allowed on nude beaches. Tell me, did Playboy ever get back to you after you sent those photos of yourself to them?"

Paulina sneered at Sam. "At least I have a future. I wouldn't be surprised if you wound up in a satanic cult."

"At least I won't have over a dozen STDs before I'm thirty," Sam muttered.

"Do you practice witchcraft and pray to the devil in your spare time?"

"What? Because I'm Goth and I love wearing black? That is so stereotypical," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "I'm Jewish."

A cry from the water got both girls' attention. They turned and saw a dolphin looking up at them with a hibiscus flower in his mouth.

Sam smiled. "Aww… Hi there. What's that you got?" she asked the sea mammal.

Paulina shoved her aside. "Move over, freak. That flower is mine." She reached down to grab the flower from the dolphin but he jerked his head away from her.

"I guess that flower wasn't meant for you," Sam said to Paulina snidely. The dolphin then lifted his head up a little to present the flower to Sam who gratefully took it from him. "Thank you very much, buddy."

"Yeah, well, who cares what a stupid dolphin thinks anyway?" Paulina said nonchalantly. The dolphin replied by blowing water at Paulina from his blowhole, causing her to shriek. The dolphin then splashed some water at her causing her to run away screaming.

Sam burst out laughing. "Nice one, buddy," she said to the dolphin. "Did Danny send you?" The dolphin squeaked and nodded. Sam looked around to make sure no one was looking and did a cannonball off the deck. The moment she hit the water her legs became covered in royal purple scales, her ears turned into fins, gills grew out of her neck, and her hands became webbed. This was a result of wearing the bat-winged pearl around her neck. It was slowly changing her into a mermaid. The transformation would be complete when she said her vows at the church altar. A bit of mermaid magic so to speak.

The dolphin then lead Sam deeper under water until she came across the entrance to a grotto. Sam thanked the dolphin and he swam away. She then entered the grotto, the walls covered with useless junk. Sam smiled, knowing that Danny and his best friend Tucker most likely collected them over the years.

"Danny? You in here?" Sam called out. Something shifted in the shadows. "Cujo? Is that you, boy?"

Something then tackled Sam to the grotto floor. "Looking forward to our last year in college?" a familiar voice whispered in her ear. Sam moved her head and was face to face with a boy about her age staring at her with glowing green eyes. White hair was tied in a ponytail with black and white fin-ears. He had matching fins on his forearms and down his back. They went well with his jet-black tail.

Sam smiled. "Only if you're attending classes there," she replied. Danny let her up.

"We've already got our stuff at Tick Tock Clock Shop," Danny answered. "Are you renting your own apartment this year?"

"Alas, no. Mr. Doyle offered a room at the boardinghouse he lives in but we declined because we knew our parents would freak out," Sam explained.

Danny shrugged. "Understandable. But that doesn't mean I can't come visit you," he said flirtatiously. He then pulled Sam closer to give her a kiss.

Sam forced her tongue into his mouth. This was one of the few precious moments they had together during the summer. Although they hadn't told her yet, Sam could tell that her parents were beginning to wonder where their daughter wandered off to whenever they went to the White Collar Yacht Club. She couldn't tell them that she always ran off to be with her boyfriend. They hated Danny (except for Agnes). Sam didn't understand why they hated him so much. Sure, he wasn't in the same social class as her family, but so what? She didn't care if Danny was a hobo. She'd still be with him.

"Think this year will be full of adventure like last year?" Sam asked as she parted the kiss.

Danny thought about it for a moment. Last year, he and Tucker went on land for the first time ever and they saw a rainbow of things in the world, both good and bad. Danny joined the choir, Sam saw Dash Baxter drunk, Tucker joined the Science Club, and Valerie worked two jobs on and off campus. In-between those events, they learned that Vlad Masters turned himself into a _Homo Fecit Hybrida_, or "Manmade Hybrid". After learning that he wanted Danny and his mother to join him and be his family, the four friends worked together to put a stop to him.

"Without the parts with Vlad in them then yes," he answered although he had to give the fruit loop credit though. If he hadn't interfered, Danny would have never gathered the courage to tell Sam the entire truth about himself.

Sam smiled and Danny leaned in again for another kiss when an unexpected visitor appeared.

"How much longer are you two gonna swap spit?"

Danny and Sam got off of each other and straightened themselves out. "I'm gonna kill you for that one, Tucker!" Danny yelled.

A young man who was the same age as Danny appeared from the shadows. He had dark skin, black dreadlocks that dangled from underneath the red beret he wore, turquoise eyes, and six evergreen tentacles from the waist down. He was a Cecaelia, half-human, half-octopus.

"Sheesh, dude, you're not even official mates yet and you're already eager to get laid," said Tucker.

Both college students' faces turned bright red.

"Tucker, I'm smart, not reckless!" Danny exclaimed.

"I'm not Paulina! I don't sleep with the first guy I meet whenever I get…one of those urges," she finished hesitantly. "Anyway, what's new with you, Tucker?"

"Well, the good news is I got that TV I found to work," Tucker said proudly.

"Tell her the bad news," Danny said to his best friend.

Tucker's pride instantly deflated. "The bad news is it keeps breaking down," he said mournfully.

"Small price to pay when you're trying to get an electronic to work in salt water," Sam muttered.

"You mean it's not working because it's underwater?!" Tucker asked exasperatedly.

"Yep," Sam confirmed. "It's a killer on cell phones too. That's why I never bring mine to the beach."

~0~0~0~

"Samantha!" Pamela called out. "Samantha! Where did that girl wander off to?"

"It's time for dinner. Where is she?" asked Jeremy, Sam's father.

"She's probably doing things normal twenty-two-year-olds do," said Agnes. "Probably drinking at a bar and hanging out with her friends."

"Why would she wander off to go drink at some low-class bar?" Pamela sniffed. "She leaves for college in a week. I'm not going shopping for her new dorm if she has a hangover."

"I still don't understand why you wouldn't let her rent an apartment off-campus," Agnes complained. "Charles Doyle lives in a boardinghouse a few blocks away from campus. He said that there were some vacancies."

Pamela grimaced. "A house full of low-class strangers? I don't think so."

"Mother, Samantha needs to be somewhere safe and easy to reach," Jeremy argued.

"And the moment she graduates she'll move away to a community full of strangers," Agnes argued back. "You can't protect her forever."

Sam suddenly came into view as she walked from the beach. She was holding hands with a boy about her age. He had messy black hair and icy blue eyes. He had a rather scrawny build with a hint of muscle that was covered with a white undershirt, blue swim trunks with matching flip-flops.

Pamela and Jeremy immediately frowned when they recognized him. Daniel Fenton had been dating their daughter since last fall and they didn't like him one bit. For starters, he was middle class, maybe even lower. Another reason was that he had snuck into not only the country club but into their own home, despite the fact that Samantha _insisted_ that she invited him in. Who knew what unspeakable things he did to Samantha while he was there?

"Sammy! Why didn't you tell me your boyfriend was here?" Agnes asked cheerfully.

The two finally approached them. Sam shrugged. "I just bumped into him while I was walking on the beach," she lied. Sam felt bad for lying to her grandmother but it was to protect Danny's identity.

"Sammy, Daniel is not a member at the club…" Jeremy began to argue only to be stopped when his mother whacked him on the head with a magazine she was reading.

"Let it go, Jeremy! Sammy is a legal adult so quit treating her like a child," Agnes scolded. "Besides, the boy treats her like a queen so I don't see a reason why you're so against it. Now lets go inside and get a bite to eat." She then turned to Daniel. "Don't worry about paying, boy. Jerry will pay for the food."

"Mother!"

~0~0~0~

"So…Daniel…why don't you tell us about yourself," Pamela said awkwardly.

"Didn't you ask that question last Thanksgiving?" asked Sam.

"I couldn't understand a word he was saying because he had a whole bunch of food in his mouth," Pamela answered through gritted teeth.

Daniel swallowed his food before answering. "Well, I'm originally from Hawaii," he started. Sam knew that that was only a cover for his real identity. In reality, he and Tucker were from a small village off the coast of her hometown of Amity Park, California.

Jeremy's eyebrows went up. "Hawaii you say? So this must be quite the culture shock for you," he stated.

Daniel shrugged as he took a sip of ice water (through a straw). "I'm kind of used to it now. My friend Tucker and I already moved back into Dick's apartment so we're all set for our final year."

"And then you'll propose to my granddaughter?" asked Agnes causing Daniel to do a spit-take.

"MOTHER!"

"AGNES!"

"GRANDMA!"

Everyone but the old woman was bright red.

Agnes looked at everyone. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Absolutely not!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"They've been dating for almost a year," Agnes argued. "If I recall correctly, you proposed to Pamela after only six months of dating."

"And we were engaged for a year and a half," Jeremy stated.

Daniel and Sam blushed. Technically they were already engaged by merfolk standards. The proof was around Sam's neck.

Jeremy sighed and decided to drop the subject before things got too awkward. "Well, Sam told us you were a transfer student. Where were you before Amity U?"

"Leviathan University," Daniel answered casually.

"A college named after a Biblical monster," Agnes remarked. "Never heard of the place but I already like the sound of it."

"Sounds like an…interesting place," Pamela said hesitantly. "When did you meet Sammy?"

"I met Sam in English class," Daniel answered. In reality they met when they were just children but they were pretty sure Sam's family wouldn't believe that story.

"Well, that's nice. I met Pam at a party," Jeremy replied.

"A frat party," Agnes corrected. Both parents turned bright red.

After their meal was paid for, Sam decided to "walk" Daniel home. Her parents reluctantly obliged as long as it was _just_ a walk home. No extended visits.

"Well, that went better than I thought," Daniel said as they walked down the beach.

"They were just acting like that because they were at the yacht club and didn't want to act out in front of their so-called 'friends'," said Sam. "Trust me. The next time you visit my house they'll be back to their hostile ways."

Daniel chuckled. He was looking forward to this year with his friends. Maybe he could properly propose (in human standards) to Sam some time during the year. He'd have to look through his treasure trove in his grotto and see if he had an engagement ring for her.

* * *

**Updates are gonna come slowly due to finals being in two weeks. I'll TRY to update again before then. Thank you for your patience.  
**

**Keep the city of Boston in your thoughts and prayers. The people are going through hell so say a little prayer for them and hope this doesn't end in tears.**


	2. Return to Amity University

**Sorry if this is short. I'm having writer's block due to the fact that finals are next week and I'm drop dead terrified (I've never been a good test taker).**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 2**

**Return to Amity University**

Vlad Masters was pondering his next move against Samantha and her little friends. Ever since they humiliated him in the spring, he had been planning to get revenge on them. However, Vlad had to plan carefully. When he attacked Sam when she rescued Danny who was being held hostage, the boy's true nature was triggered and nearly tore him to bits. Vlad had no doubt that the same thing would happen if he tried harming Danny in front of Sam.

The damage left in the wake of those events had finally subsided enough for Vlad to return to Amity Park, California. Right now he was hiding out in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

Since it was quite clear that Danny was not going to be joining Vlad, he figured that he should return to his original goal: get Maddie Fenton to marry him. Sure, the woman was now married with children but Vlad believed that she made the wrong choice in marrying Jack Fenton.

_'Play my cards right and I'll have Maddie in my arms with rings on our fingers in no time.'_

~0~0~0~

"We're finally back on land!" Tucker Foley cheered as he pulled himself out of the water and onto the cave floor that stood as a meeting place for the group (mainly for Danny and Sam).

"Hopefully it will be a peaceful year," Danny responded as he too pulled himself out of the water. "I've had enough drama in my life, thank you."

"At least this year we won't be keeping secrets from our girlfriends," Tucker said.

"What about your secret love of human soap operas?"

"You can prove nothing," Tucker said hastily.

Danny chuckled. "Okay. Ready to put your land legs back on?" he asked.

"You know it."

A light engulfed both boys' bodies. Human legs replaced Danny's tailfin and Tucker's tentacles. Danny's hair darkened until it was raven-black and it was now short and unkempt. His glowing green eyes dimmed until they were icy blue. Tucker's dreadlocks disappeared from his red beret and thick-framed glasses appeared on his face. He was now wearing the clothes he previously wore the last time he was on land. Danny was still in his swimsuit from last week.

"Shall we go and greet the ladies?" Tucker asked slyly.

Daniel gave him a blank look. "By 'ladies' do you mean our girlfriends or every girl in town?"

Tucker smiled cheekily. "Can it be both?" he asked innocently.

"No."

"Come on, dude. There are tons of girls who would love to meet you and get to know you," Tucker argued.

"True, but I only have eyes for Sam," Daniel argued back. "And if you really loved Valerie, you'd quit the flirting."

Tucker sighed in defeat. "Fine. You win. But I'm still gonna ogle any girl who walks past us."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Fair enough. Just behave yourself."

~0~0~0~

"I still can't believe that you went behind my back and let our daughter rent a room in this rundown boardinghouse," Jeremy complained.

"It's better than those dorm rooms on campus," Agnes argued. "Do you have any idea how thin the walls are there? I'm surprised Sammy got any sleep at all last year. You don't want to hear the horror stories she told me."

Sam was happily watching the moving guys take her furniture into the boardinghouse. She texted Daniel and told him where to meet her.

"Hey, Sam!" Valerie Gray called out as she pulled up in her car with her father, Damon, following close behind in his own car.

Sam smiled and waved. "Hey, Val! Like our new place?"

Valerie stepped out of her car to get a good look at the boardinghouse. "Not bad. Nice to finally have a quiet place to live for a change," she stated.

"And the best part is: no Paulina," Sam cheered.

Pamela frowned. "I still don't understand why you hate Paulina. She is such a sweet girl," she said.

"She's evil incarnate," the Goth grumbled.

"She makes Fidel Castro look like a saint," Valerie added.

Pamela scoffed. "You two had such fun when you were girls."

"No. _She_ had fun bossing me around and blaming everything on me," Sam corrected. "And you were gullible enough to believe her."

"Sammy, you're being ridiculous."

Sam was about to argue when a familiar and friendly voice interrupted. "Hey, Sam!"

The two women turned and saw Daniel Fenton and Tucker Foley walking in their direction. Sam smiled now that her boyfriend was here to save her sanity.

"Hey, Danny," she greeted. "Hey, Tucker!"

Pamela put her hands on her hips. "How did you two know we were here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Sam texted us," Tucker answered, earning him an elbow from Daniel. Apparently that was supposed to be a secret.

Pamela turned to her daughter. "I'm liking this less and less," she told the Goth.

Sam sighed exasperatedly. "Don't get a grey hair over this, Mom. The landlord has a strict 'no sleepovers' policy if you catch my drift," she explained.

Pamela sighed exasperatedly. She'd have to make sure to refill Sam's birth control prescription before the semester started.

~0~0~0~

Sam loved feeling the wind blow in her face as she rode on her boyfriend's back later that evening. It was one of her favorite things to do with Danny when they were alone.

"I can't believe Professor Bickles lives in the same boardinghouse you're in," Danny stated.

"I'm as shocked as you are!" Sam exclaimed, laughing.

"What's his new dream this year?"

"Being a security guard."

Danny burst out laughing. "There goes Amity U!" he exclaimed.

Sam began laughing too. "I know! He'll probably head for the hills at the first hint of trouble!"

They were laughing so much that Danny wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He crashed into the side of a yacht, causing it to lurch.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Danny grunted as he rubbed his head where a bump appeared. "What did I crash into?"

Sam saw the name of the boat they crashed into. _The Buckster_. Sam groaned. They unknowingly bumped into Dash Baxter's family yacht. She should know; she'd seen Dash's family on it for several summers.

"What the hell was that?" a cocky voice asked.

Danny flinched and disappeared underwater, thinking Sam would follow. Sam was about to when she heard Paulina.

"It's the Goth freak!" she announced. "What are you doing swimming in the middle of the ocean?"

Sam made sure her hair covered her fin-ears. Luckily the gills on her neck remained invisible to the distant eye. Paulina or anyone on the boat wouldn't see them from where they stood.

"I'm enjoying my last weekend of summer," Sam answered. "Is that a crime?"

"No but your fashion sense is," Paulina retorted earning a bunch of laughs from the other passengers.

Danny resurfaced on the other side of the boat since everyone was focused on Sam. He hated it when people made fun of her just because she thought and dressed differently. It reminded him of how the other guppies on the playground made fun of him in his childhood. _'It's payback time.'_

Danny dove back into the water. His hand lit up with green energy and he fired it at the hull, making a hole. The bubbles coming out of it told Danny that water was going through it. Luckily the yacht wasn't too far from shore.

Meanwhile, Dash's friend Kwan came and grabbed Dash's shoulder. "Dude. Something's wrong. There's some kind of alarm thing going off inside."

"What are you talking about?" Dash asked irritably.

"I mean that something is wrong with your boat. Something about water in your boat."

"WHAT?!"

Both boys disappeared inside along with the rest of Dash's guests. As soon as the coast was clear, Danny resurfaced next to Sam.

"Sorry about that. I thought you were right behind me," he explained.

Sam smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That's okay. I take it you're behind whatever's wrong with Dash's yacht?"

"I don't know what you mean," Danny said innocently. He could tell Sam wasn't buying it. "Okay. I blasted a small hole in the hull."

Sam giggled. "You're kidding!"

"Nope. Don't worry. No one's in danger. It just needs to stay out of the water until it's repaired," Danny assured her.

Sam nodded in understanding. "Let's get out of here," she said.

Danny swam to the side. "Ladies first," he said chivalrously. Sam smiled thankfully and went under. Danny followed soon after. He didn't know that someone managed to get a glimpse of him before he disappeared into the water.

~0~0~0~

Richard Tock, also known as Clockwork, observed the two lovebirds through one of his many viewing orbs. Danny was going to have a headache with this person constantly obsessing over him. At least the person wouldn't learn the truth.

Clockwork then looked at the other viewing orbs. Not much was going on in the present. Everything was going well. _'All is as it should be.'_ He had mixed feelings about the events that were going to unfold. He was happy as to what Danny was going to ask Sam some time during the year. He wasn't happy that Vlad Plasmius was returning to Amity Park again. Unfortunately, Dick could not tell his tenants these things because it would be violating the rules of the High Council. Not to mention the Observants would throw a fit if they found out that Clockwork let it slip that he told some college students what would happen in the future.

"This is going to be an interesting year, indeed," he said to himself.

* * *

**Again, sorry if this is kind of short. I have finals on the brain and I won't be able to work on this until they're done. As soon as finals are over, I'll get back on this. I promise!  
**


	3. Sightings

**Huzzah! I'm back and I'm not dead! Finals have been over for about a week and I've been trying to come up with good ideas for this chapter but came up short. Sorry!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Sightings**

To say that the first week of classes was tough would be an understatement; it was downright **brutal**! Daniel was assigned to write a paper in three of his classes. Tucker had a professor that had scheduled a test at the end of the first week. Poor Valerie's partner at her on-campus job was Professor Bickles. And two of Sam's professors talked like Ben Stein and had the personality of a slug.

The four friends collapsed at a table in the school library.

"Does anyone want to write my papers?" Daniel moaned.

"What classes?" Valerie asked. Her face was planted on the table's surface.

"Aerodynamics, Health and Fitness II, and European History."

"I am NOT your girl."

"Don't even think about asking me," Sam piped up. "I know next to nothing about aerodynamics or the history of Europe."

"What about my health class?" asked Daniel.

"I'm already bombarded with my own homework. I'm not going to do someone else's."

Daniel shrugged. "Oh well. Worth a shot." Sam smirked and playfully hit his arm.

"With Dick working us to the bone, I haven't had time to study for my Advanced Computer Science test on Friday," Tucker whined. "No pun intended by the way."

"What work? You hardly get any customers," said Sam.

"Dick always finds something for us to do," said Daniel.

Daniel turned his head so his face could feel the cold surface of the table when he noticed Paulina was looking at something on a computer. He squinted his eyes to get a better look and blanched. Mermaids. _'Paulina's researching mermaids?'_

"Check out what Paulina's looking at," he whispered to his friends. They looked where Daniel was looking and reacted the same way.

"Dude, you don't think she saw one of us?" Tucker asked fearfully.

"Don't know," Daniel said grimly. "How are we gonna confront her without drawing suspicion?"

"She'll talk to me," said Valerie. "We're taking Advanced Algebra together and she's always asking me for help. Hopefully she'll say something." She then walked over to where Paulina was sitting. "What are you looking at, Paulina?"

The Latina jumped in surprise and turned to face Valerie. "None of your business, chica. Why don't you go back to your geeky boyfriend?" she sneered.

Valerie held back a grimace. "I'll let that slide. Why are you looking at mermaids? Are you taking Mythology?" she asked. Valerie was currently taking that class to get a better understanding of merfolk.

"No. This is something I'm doing on my own," Paulina replied. "I saw something strange in the water the day before classes and I wanted to see what it was."

Valerie leaned over Paulina to get a better look at the computer screen. What she saw made her even more nervous. Paulina was reading about _Phantasma Nereiorum Formant_, or 'Phantom Merman'.

"You think you saw a merman?" Valerie asked, acting skeptical to hide her nervousness.

"I don't think, I _know_ I saw a merman," Paulina affirmed. "He looked just like this one on the Internet."

"'Phantom Merman'?" Valerie read on the computer screen.

Paulina nodded. "It says that they're the most elusive of its kind and that one is born every one hundred years," she read.

"You sure that the salty sea air wasn't messing with your brain?" asked Valerie.

"I'm positive," Paulina confirmed. "Now go away. If you're not here to help me with algebra then get lost."

Valerie walked back to the others and hit Daniel upside the head.

"Hey! What was that for?" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down.

"You idiot! Paulina saw you the day before classes started," Valerie hissed back.

San knew what Valerie was talking about. "She must have seen you after you blew a hole in Dash's yacht."

"What?! That can't be right," said Daniel. "I'm usually so careful when I'm near boats."

"What are we going to do?" asked Tucker.

Daniel started hitting his head against one of his textbooks repeatedly. "Stupid! Stupid!"

Sam put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "She doesn't have any proof," she assured him. "As long as she doesn't see you again, you'll be fine."

"Unless she has a camera," Tucker piped up. "Then you'll have to transfer back to Leviathan."

Sam scowled at Tucker and stuffed his beret in his mouth. She then turned back to Danny. "Just wait. This will be over before midterms tops," she said. "Until then, she'll be like my fourth grade teacher who believes in fairy godparents."

~0~0~0~

Vlad unlocked the front door to his beachside manor. Having multiple houses across the country certainly had its perks. The Guys in White weren't looking for him as Vlad Masters. They were looking for Plasmius (they never learned his true identity since they made sure to keep him as wet as possible).

Luckily Vlad had a housekeeper to watch over his home while he was gone. Several messages were waiting for him next to his answering machine. He'd have to get to those later. Right now, Vlad just wanted to take a nice long bath.

As Vlad, now Plasmius, laid in his bathtub, he thought back on the days when Maddie Fenton held great interest in the human world. The way she tried to get used to her human legs always made Vlad chuckle. He loved it whenever she asked him about the simplest things about the human world. He thought he had a future with this beautiful creature. Then she brought another with her, thinking that the three of them could be friends. Jack Fenton certainly believed that they were all friends. That's when things went downhill.

Maddie became more interested in showing Jack what she'd learned from Vlad and the two became very close (her only regret was introducing Jack to fudge). Thinking that she was more interested in Jack because he was a merman, Vlad began looking for ways to become a merman too. He even managed to get a blood sample from Jack. When Maddie learned what Vlad was up to, she was enraged. Thinking that Vlad was only using her to expose her kind, Maddie severed all ties from Vlad and never returned to the surface.

Vlad didn't take the rejection well and put his project to the test even though it wasn't ready for testing. If Jeremy Manson hadn't found him unconscious in the science lab that day, Vlad was sure he would have died. By the time Vlad got out of the hospital, he got a message saying that Maddie had married Jack. Thinking Maddie was making a mistake, Vlad vowed to fix it so she'd come back to him.

After his altercation with Maddie's son, Daniel, in the spring, Vlad had to look over his plans to get rid of the boy who was protective of both his family and intended mate. Vlad knew he had to contact the Council of Atlantis and tell them about the Phantom but they'd probably see him as a bigger threat. He had to find a way to tell them without saying who he was.

~0~0~0~

"I'm pretty sure this is illegal," Valerie said nervously.

Sam was holding her camera phone up to a window where…_things_ were happening inside of an on-campus apartment. Paulina was _playing_ with a classmate in her Mythology class as payment for copying notes for her.

"Who said that I'll be posting this on Youtube?" Sam said, rolling her eyes. "It's perfect blackmail material. This will ensure Paulina stays in line."

"It's voyeurism!" Valerie exclaimed.

"Gross! I'm not getting a sexual high watching Paulina getting down and dirty with Mikey," Sam argued. "If she ever does connect the dots with Danny, I'll have this to keep her quiet."

"If we get caught, I am not going down with you," Valerie murmured.

"Whatever," said Sam as she lowered her phone from the window. "If the whole nursing thing doesn't work out for Paulina, she could pursue the exciting career as a prostitute."

Valerie giggled. "Regular, call girl, or escort?" she asked.

"Is it D: all of the above?"

Both girls laughed as they walked back to the boardinghouse.

"Do you think she'll keep this up?" asked Valerie.

"I really hope not," said Sam. "Danny told me that there was no way he'll be able to sleep tonight after today."

"I don't think even you can calm him down," said Valerie.

"What about you?" asked Sam. "Do you think he'll listen to you? You saw that Tucker wasn't much help."

Valerie shrugged. "Maybe but then again he's terrified of me."

"Well, you did threaten to knock down the back door of the clock shop and you did beat up Tucker pretty badly," said Sam.

"And you haven't?"

"Touché."

* * *

**I know, I know! It's short, I'm sorry! My folks have been hounding me for finding a job for the summer and they won't leave me alone about it. I'll try to get things back in order ASAP. **

**There will be more fluff in future chapters, I promise!**

**Don't worry about Paulina's involvement in the story. It's kind of like on the show. She has a crush on Phantom but nothing really developed throughout the show.**


	4. Switching Boyfriends for a Day

**I'm back from the dead! Sorry I haven't been updating. Writer's block and job hunting had me distracted. Also, I've been watching my younger sister, Ann Onymous, play Persona 4 and I've been fascinated with it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Switching Boyfriends for a Day**

Danny swam to his grotto shortly after classes the next morning to find something important to give to Sam. He knew this was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, even though her parents didn't approve of him. It scared him to even think about how they'd react if they knew the entire truth about him.

He dug through several pieces of the useless junk he'd found over the years. A garden gnome, a shot glass, a Faberge egg (not that he knew what that was), a beat up old trophy with the name 'OJ Simpson' on it, and a cue ball. All of it was useless to help him propose to Sam under human standards. Sure, he was already engaged to her in merfolk standards but he also wanted to be engaged to her under human standards.

He'd seen enough chick flicks (much to his and Tucker's chagrin) to know that human males usually proposed marriage to their intended mate by offering a ring with a jewel on it, usually a diamond. Danny was too afraid to ask Clockwork for a raise so he had no choice but to improvise. Human males sometimes used a ring that was a family heirloom to propose so Danny thought a ring from his treasure grotto was the next best thing.

Finally! He'd found what he was looking for! Danny had found a small box made of some kind of velvet material a few years ago. He opened it and a small gold ring with a blue gemstone was inside. It wasn't an amethyst, which would have matched Sam's eyes, but this was the best Danny had. Hopefully Sam would still take it.

Now the problem was when the perfect time for him to propose. He didn't want to propose anytime soon. It had to be somewhere special to her. He pulled out his shell phone and dialed Valerie's phone number.

~0~0~0~

"What do mean 'we should swap boyfriends for a day'?" Sam asked her roommate in disbelief.

"Well, we've been hanging out with our boyfriends for the past two weeks since the term started," Valerie explained. "And since we're best friends and they're best friends, I thought it would be nice to get to know each other's boyfriends for a day."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's the catch?" she asked skeptically. She didn't mean to sound insecure; she just sensed that something was going on here.

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Okay. I also feel like I'm starting to form a rut. I want to do something different for a change."

Sam sighed in defeat. "I guess one day won't hurt," she said reluctantly. Valerie did tell her that Danny had some kind of boyish charm to him that she found attractive but knew his heart belonged to Sam.

Valerie pumped her fist. "Great! While I get to know Danny, you can get to know Tucker!"

Sam groaned inwardly. Knowing Tucker, he'd probably want to eat meat, go to the arcade, and check out the latest PDA model. Sam silently vowed that she would not suffer that fate, so help her.

~0~0~0~

Sam waited at the pier the following weekend for 'Trading Boyfriends' day. She still felt hesitant about letting Danny spend the day with Valerie. Normally Sam never felt so insecure but after what happened with her previous 'boyfriends' her parents matched her up with and with Elliot, she couldn't help it. Not to mention, Sam also had to spend the day with Tucker. She liked Tucker, but there were parts of his personality that could really use some improvement, such as his big mouth.

"Hey, Sam!" Tucker called out.

Sam waved him over. "Hey, Tuck! What's up?"

"Not much. Wanna go to the Nasty Burger? They're having a Mega Meaty Special today and I want in on the action!"

No way Sam was going to that slaughterhouse. "Actually, I'd like to try out this new restaurant I've been wanting to go to," she said.

Tucker's eyebrows went up. "Really? What's the place called?" he asked curiously.

"It's called the Secret Garden. It's supposed to be really good," Sam replied.

Tucker shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure, why not? I'm willing to try something new," he said. Sam led the way to the new restaurant. Tucker did not notice the evil grin that was slowly spreading across her face.

~0~0~0~

Danny placed a breathing spell on a necklace Valerie wore and the two then swam to Danny's grotto. Danny might have found a proper engagement ring, but he also wanted Valerie's opinion about it before giving it to Sam.

"So what's this all about?" Valerie asked. "What did you have to ask me that you couldn't ask Sam about?"

Danny stopped swimming and sighed before turning to Valerie. "Well…I've been thinking…of proposing to Sam," he stuttered. His face was cherry red at this point.

Valerie raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you two technically engaged?" she asked.

"We are in my people's eyes," Danny explained, "but I also want us to be engaged by human standards."

"So, like, white gown, big ceremony, the whole enchilada?" Valerie asked for clarity.

Danny blinked. "I don't know how Mexican food has anything to do with this, but yes, I would like to marry Sam in both worlds."

After a pregnant pause, Valerie suddenly cheered and embraced Danny in a bone-crushing hug. "FINALLY! It's about time you've popped the question!"

"Ack! Glad you approve. Could you let me go now?" Danny gagged.

~0~0~0~

"What the hell is this place?" Tucker asked in disbelief. The two were standing in front of the Secret Garden. From the look of the building, it looked like hippies ran the place.

"The Secret Garden," Sam answered. "It's a vegetarian restaurant."

Tucker's jaw dropped. "What?! We're going to be having lunch at this dump?"

Sam frowned. "It's not a dump. It's a restaurant that serves recyclable organic matter instead of deep fried dead animals."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I love eating meat! I've never eaten a vegetable in my life!" Tucker exclaimed.

"First time for everything," Sam said as she dragged her friend inside. The interior of the restaurant looked like the inside of a rain forest. All the furniture was made out of some kind of recycled material. The place smelled like Danny's shoes to Tucker.

"I haven't even eaten here yet and I already hate the food here," Tucker complained.

"Come on. Let's grab a table," said Sam. They sat down at a table and looked at the menu.

"There's not a single meaty item on this menu!" Tucker exclaimed. "They don't even have grilled cheese!"

"I told you. They use recyclo organic matter," said Sam. "Nothing from an animal is on this menu."

"You said this was a vegetarian restaurant. Vegetarians eat stuff from animals," Tucker argued.

"Not ultra-recyclo-vegetarians," Sam replied. "They only eat what grew from God's green earth, including topsoil."

"In other words, we're eating garbage," Tucker concluded.

"It's not garbage!" Sam exclaimed.

"Sam, it's garbage."

~0~0~0~

"Let me get this straight: you want us to swim all the way to Atlantis to tell the Observants that the Phantom has finally surfaced?" a green stingray asked Vlad one night.

"Exactly," Vlad confirmed to the three stingrays. "They'll do anything to get rid of him to prevent history from repeating itself."

The first ray turned to his brothers. "What do you think, boys? Approximately how long do you think it will take for us to get there?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say about three months," said the third ray.

Vlad scowled. "Can you swim any faster than that? The sooner, the better."

"We're two-thousand and eight years old," said the first ray. "We're lucky to be moving at all!"

"Clockwork is so much older than us," added the second ray. "How he manages to keep his youthful appearance is beyond me."

Vlad ignored that comment and sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped. Just try to get there as quickly as possible."

The three rays nodded and disappeared underwater.

~0~0~0~

"I don't think I can do this," Valerie said nervously as she stared at Danny's pet shark, Cujo.

"He won't bite you, I promise, Val," Danny assured her.

"Danny, my major is criminal justice, not marine biology. I'm not even a dentist!" Valerie exclaimed.

"My mom has pulled several of my baby teeth when I was a guppy and she's an inventor," Danny argued.

"Your 'dog' has three rows of teeth! How will I know which one needs pulling without him biting my arm off?" Valerie asked.

"I'll stun him long enough for you to pull it out and then I'll undo it," said Danny.

Valerie sighed in defeat. "Okay. Let's make this quick," she said. "I'm going to have nightmares for weeks after this."

Danny's webbed hand glowed green and held it in front of Cujo. The shark then started glowing green and was soon stunned. Danny then forced Cujo's mouth open, revealing three rows of pointy teeth.

Valerie blanched. "I've changed my mind. I can't do this!"

"Val! Come on! As long as I have the spell on him, he can only float here. I promise that nothing will happen to you," Danny assured her.

Valerie whimpered and gathered her courage again. "Okay. Which one's the culprit?"

"Third row, near the tip of the tongue."

Valerie looked where Danny said it was and saw a shark tooth with a little cavity in it. She grabbed it between her fingers and started pulling. It took a few tugs, but she managed to pull the tooth out of Cujo's mouth. The shark whimpered in pain. Danny shut the shark's mouth and started comforting his pet.

"I'm gonna hang on to this," said Valerie as she pocketed the tooth. She had something special in mind for it. When she saw Danny lift the spell from Cujo, she hid behind the Phantom in case the shark was angry with her for pulling his teeth. Instead, Cujo gave Valerie what would have been a big slobbery lick in the face if they weren't underwater.

"I think he likes you," Danny laughed.

"I don't care if that shark is domesticated or not. This whole thing has traumatized me for life," Valerie mumbled.

* * *

**Thank you, jeanette9a, for giving me the ring idea. It really helped.  
**

**Sorry I haven't been able to update for awhile. But the good news is: I have a job! *cue mariachi band and confetti***

**That aside, I thought that this would be an interesting chapter. Our heroes have been spending so much time with their boy/girlfriends that I thought they should get to know the other. Relax, there WILL NOT be any changes in pairings. **


	5. Inner Desires

**Sorry I haven't been updating regularly. I HAD a job but for reasons I do not know, they fired me. So for the past month, I've been job hunting and wallowing in self-pity and depression (NO it's not THAT kind of depression, it's the 'down-in-the-dumps' kind). **

**And to show that things are okay, there's a little something in this chapter y'all will love!**

**But now I'm back and inspiration is slowly coming back! Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Inner Desires**

Darkness. Everywhere Danny looked he saw darkness. He noticed that he wasn't in his human disguise. He remembered talking to Tucker about their day with each other's girlfriend before going to bed. After that, the boy assumed that he went to sleep. Danny concluded that this was some sort of dream.

"Or a nightmare," a voice added.

Danny turned in the direction the voice came from, although it was rather difficult since it sounded like it came from all directions.

"Who's there?" Danny called out.

A figure slowly appeared from the darkness. Danny was shocked that the figure looked so much like him. The figure's skin was greenish-blue with blood red eyes. His ears were pointed and his long white hair that was pulled into a ponytail was styled to look like it was on fire. White spikes went down his back and jet-black tail.

Danny's eyes widened. "You! You're Dark Phantom!" he exclaimed in horror.

Phantom chuckled. "You could say that," he said casually. "I'm actually more like the clichéd 'beast within' taking the form of your predecessor."

Danny blinked. "'Predecessor'? You expect me to carry on your legacy?"

Phantom smiled evilly, revealing his vampire fangs. "It's possible when your intended rejects you," he replied.

That got Danny angry. "Sam would never leave me! NEVER!" he yelled.

"Kid, let's be realistic. _No one_ mates with the Phantom. Never have, never will. And when she does reject you, that's when _I_ will emerge and continue what I started several decades ago," Phantom explained.

"There's no way I'm letting you take over," Danny retorted. "I won't let you get the best of me."

"Then explain last spring when you lost control after your intended was knocked unconscious," Phantom replied.

Danny opened his mouth but nothing came out. He didn't have an answer to that. He still had the occasional nightmare about that night from time to time. He knew that a reaction like that could only occur if his mate was harmed. That was proof that Sam was meant to be with Danny.

"I won't let anything bad happen to her," Danny vowed.

Phantom laughed at that. "I'd like to see you try," he laughed as he faded away.

Daniel then woke up in cold sweat.

~0~0~0~

"Thanks for getting me the shark tooth, Val," said Sam as she carefully drilled a small hole in said tooth. She was carefully making a little gift for Danny (the tools were provided by Agnes) for their first year anniversary that was in a week.

Labor Day weekend had both good and bad memories. Vlad invited the quartet to his beachside manor for the weekend. Sam found it suspicious from the start since she hadn't been there since she was ten years old. Vlad tried to hold the four friends hostage but they managed to escape unscathed. Unfortunately, Daniel and Tucker's secrets were also exposed. In the end, Sam and Danny got together and had been ever since.

"Now I know how all those people in shark movies feel," Valerie remarked. "I never want to watch _Jaws_ again or any other shark movie for as long as I live."

Sam laughed at that remark and went back to work.

"So, how are you hiding your little 'changes' from your family?" Valerie asked, changing the subject. "It must have been a challenge hiding them from your relatives in Miami."

"It wasn't easy," said Sam. "I had to hide in the bathroom for a half-hour before they started to go away."

"What about on a daily basis?"

"I didn't leave my bedroom till they went away."

"So no one in your family knows what's really going on between you and Danny?" Valerie asked for clarity.

"Nope," Sam answered.

Valerie folded her arms. "They're going to have to find out sooner or later, right?"

Sam put her little project down and sighed. She turned around in her chair and faced her best friend. "That's what we're dreading," she said fearfully. "Do you have any idea how my family is going to react when they find out that I'm slowly turning into a fish?"

"At least your cousin Susie will be thrilled," Valerie replied.

"She's nine and she loves mermaids. Of course she'll be thrilled," Sam said as she rolled her eyes.

~0~0~0~

Danny wrapped his arms around Sam who was sitting in his lap the following evening. The two stared at the sun that was slowly sinking into the horizon.

"I know I haven't met any other Goths but I'm surprised that you like watching stuff like sunsets," Danny told his girlfriend.

Sam giggled softly and took his slimy webbed hand into her own. "Goths aren't fond of daylight. What you're witnessing is the nature-loving side of me. Not many people take time out of their day to stop and enjoy the sunset."

"What about people who live in the country?" Danny asked, remembering a scene from a movie that involved people enjoying a sunset out in the country.

"I meant people who live in the city," Sam corrected herself. "Country folk are lucky to be closer to nature."

"What's it like?" Danny asked curiously.

"It's nothing like this," Sam answered. "It's nowhere near the ocean. There are lakes and rivers but I don't think you'd like that. They're not wide open like the ocean."

Danny gave her a puzzled look. "How do you know all of this?" he asked.

"My relatives on my mom's side live in the countryside in North Dakota," Sam explained. "I've spent plenty of summers there watching over my cousins."

"Is that what you did when Vlad banned you from his manor?"

Sam cringed at the memory before answering. "Yeah. We visited relatives in June and in July my parents go visit Vlad while my grandma watched over me at home and took me to summer camp," she said bitterly.

Danny hugged Sam tighter and wrapped his tail around her legs. "Hey, don't give me that," he said gently as he nuzzled his face into her ebony hair. "I'm sorry I brought it up. Please don't be angry with me."

Sam's heart melted after hearing the way Danny said his apology. It was difficult to stay mad at him for long. She didn't stay mad at him for keeping his true identity a secret since she met him on land (she had her grandmother to thank for that).

She stroked his forearm, her fingers brushing against his fins. "Don't worry about it. I forgive you," she assured him.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat. He felt his teeth sharpen and knew what was about to happen. _'No! Not this again! Must…stay…in…control…'_

Before Sam could even blink, she found herself on her back with Danny on top of her, pinning her arms next to her head. The next thing she knew he was kissing and licking her gills that just appeared on her neck. This had been happening to Danny since last year when Sam found him hurt in the cave. Since Danny chose Sam as his intended mate, occasionally his primal instincts would take over and give Sam a lot of affection. She would snap him out of hit by a simple pinch or some kind of form of pain.

"I've…missed…this…" he whispered as he started giving Sam a hickey on her neck. He growled in content and started licking and kissing her neck. Sam moaned in pleasure. This was what she needed after a rough first week of classes.

"I've missed this too," Sam replied. She took a deep breath and kissed Danny's neck as well, causing him to growl in pleasure. His tail contracted and flicked, reflecting his enjoyment.

As much as she wanted this moment to last forever, Sam knew that it had to. She pinched Danny's arm, snapping him out of his stupor.

"OW!" Danny yelped as he jumped off of her. "Geez! Do you have to snap me out of it the painful way?"

Sam chuckled as she sat up. "If you have any other ways of snapping you out of it, I'd like to hear it," she replied.

Danny suddenly looked crestfallen. "What if there's a repeat of what happened in the spring?" he asked worriedly as he changed the subject.

Sam immediately knew what he was talking about. During the spring, Vlad managed to successfully capture Danny and held him hostage in his secret laboratory. Sam and Tucker managed to break into the lab to free him while Valerie distracted Vlad. The happy reunion was short lived when Vlad managed to return and knocked Sam out cold. This triggered Danny's true nature as the Phantom Merman. While Danny managed to return to his senses before doing the unthinkable to Vlad, he still felt ashamed that something inside him was able to nearly kill someone.

Sam placed her hand on Danny's cheek, grabbing his attention. "I'll be there to snap you out of it," she assured him. "I'll hit, pinch, and kick you if I have to."

Not sure if that would work or not, Danny smiled at Sam anyway. "Thanks Sam." He then hugged her tight. "Te amo."

Sam smiled and hugged him back. "Te amo quoque," she replied.

~0~0~0~

"Mom, Dad, I don't think this is a good idea," Jazz told her mother nervously on her shell phone.

"Sweetie, if you want to see your little brother graduate this spring you're going to have to start practicing now," Maddie reasoned.

"I know but what if someone sees us?" Jazz asked anxiously.

"That's why your father is searching for any uncharted islands so we can practice in peace."

"There's still the off chance that someone will see…" Jazz trailed off.

"Well that's a chance I'm willing to make," Maddie replied in a tone most mothers used to end a debate with a child.

Jazz, however, was not giving up that easily. "Well, there's still the wardrobe issue. Since this is my first time, I literally will have nothing to wear."

"I've spoken to Clockwork about it and he says that he'll take care of it. He'll even update my and your father's wardrobes to match this century's," Maddie assured her daughter. "I don't think your brother wants us to wear 80s clothing to his graduation ceremony."

Jazz rolled her eyes, said good-bye to her mother, and hung up.

~0~0~0~

"Ta-da!" Sam cheered as she held up her finished project.

Valerie looked up from her homework to see her friend's work and whistled. "Looks good. And just in time for Labor Day weekend," she remarked.

"Do you think he'll like it?"

"Girl, he's a merman. I wouldn't be surprised if other mermen had the same thing," Valerie assured her friend. "Besides, those little green, black, and white beads will really look good with his eyes, hair, and tail."

Sam smiled and looked at her present. The shark tooth that Valerie pulled was hanging on a necklace chain. On each side of the tooth were three beads; one black, one white, and one green. Since Danny turned Sam's pearl into a pendant with bat wings attached to it, Sam decided that Danny should get something for him to wear.

"You're right. He'll love it," Sam said with a smile.

An explosion shook the boardinghouse, a regular occurrence there. Valerie rolled her eyes and left their room to confront their fellow boarder down the hall.

"Jimmy! How many times has the landlord told you to NOT perform experiments in your room?" Valerie shouted as she pounded on her neighbor's door.

Sam rolled her eyes as she pulled out her mermaid book she bought from the Skulk and Lurk to look at the pictures of her favorite breeds.

* * *

**Well, I'm back to the drawing board in the employment department. The plot will pick up speed soon, I promise!  
**

**Again, thank you for your patience. Much appreciated. I'd never lost a job before so it came as a big shock to me when it happened. But I'm keeping my chin up and I just have to keep looking (groans inwardly)!**

**More shall come!**

**Thank you Shoyzz, Atrieisan, and djanubis for the fanart! Those really cheered me up! I give you cupcakes for a job well done! :)**


	6. Written Warning

**Ask and ye shall receive! A new chapter for you all! I know this is coming along slowly but 'slow and steady wins the race'! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Written Warning**

"I can't believe that Cujo ate all of this crap!" Tucker exclaimed. "We don't even have fine china in our collection!"

"At least you got your Hawaiian license plate back," said Danny, holding up a rusty license plate.

"I don't want it anymore," Tucker deadpanned.

Danny chuckled as he tossed the license plate aside. Cujo had eaten a lot of garbage in the ocean for the past few weeks and now it was coming back to haunt him. Danny and Tucker just finished fixing that.

"I can see why Mom and Dad didn't want to get me a shark when I was a guppy," Danny realized. "I forgot that sharks were the ocean's garbage disposals."

"And sooner or later, they get backed up," Tucker added as he observed the small pile of junk that was once in the shark's stomach.

Danny looked through the small pile for anything salvageable and came across an old soup thermos. "This looks like something Mom and Dad could use," he observed.

"A thermos?" Tucker asked. "We can't eat soup down here. It would float all over the place and the minnows would be everywhere."

"Maybe they can use it for one of their inventions," Danny suggested.

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Why do they call it a thermos anyway? Sounds like it's short for thermostat."

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I didn't come up with the name."

Tucker then decided to change the subject. "So, what are you going to get Sam for your anniversary?" he inquired. "A human engagement ring?"

Danny turned bright red. "No! At least…not right now. I…I still think it's too soon to tell."

"You're gonna have to ask her sometime," Tucker sang.

"I know, Tuck. I just don't want school or any threat to get in the way," Danny replied.

"Dude, school is the least of your problems. And besides, you kicked Vlad's butt with your true nature and you're still together with Sam," Tucker said to his best friend. "You guys can handle anything."

At the mentioning of what happened a few months ago, Danny's fin-ears drooped. "Weren't you guys…scared of me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Scared _of_ you? No," Tucker replied. "Scared _for_ you? Yes." The look Danny gave Tucker showed that he was doubtful. "Okay, _I_ was scared – A LITTLE – at first but I was mainly scared that you would…you know…do the unthinkable."

Danny smiled a little at Tucker's honesty. The Cecaelia was never a good liar when it came to saying things like this.

~0~0~0~

Valerie was doing her rounds on campus as part of her part time job with working security. It wasn't her favorite part of the job, but it was better than doing the paperwork in the security office, something Professor Bickles seemed to prefer over going out on patrol.

Valerie walked past a bulletin board and saw a flyer that was promoting a beach party of some kind. On closer inspection, it was actually a promotion for 'mermaid watching' hosted by none other than Paulina Sanchez. Of course knowing Paulina, it'd probably turn into something that would rival whatever went on in the Playboy mansion. To play it safe, Valerie ripped the flyer off the bulletin board and pocketed it. _'I bet everyone is going to go. Paulina has enough charisma to start her own cult.'_

~0~0~0~

Sam tried focusing on her homework but her conversation with Danny in the cave kept bugging her. She gave up and felt her room. She walked down the hall until she reached Charles Doyle's room.

For years, Sam had considered Mr. Doyle a good friend. His messy black hair and matching goatee went well with his pale skin. The glasses he wore that hid his green eyes and his scarf that he got from his half-brother Randy gave the impression that Charles was sickly and frail but it was quite the opposite. Like Clockwork, Charles Doyle was also a merman who gained legs permanently prior to the beginning of World War II (he started roaming the surface at the beginning of the Elizabethan Era).

Sam knocked on Charles' door. The merman answered moments later.

"Miss Manson, what are you doing here?" he inquired.

"I need your advice," said Sam.

"Of course. Come on in." Doyle opened the door wider and let Sam in. Doyle's room was, in a way, a complete mess. It was nothing like the hoarder living across the street. The room was filled with mountains of books going up to the ceiling. The place, unlike the clock shop that smelled like dead fish, smelled like musty old books.

"Are you planning on cleaning out your apartment anytime soon?" Sam asked as she looked at her friend's room. "Including what you have at the Skulk and Lurk you probably have more books than the Library of Congress."

"Some of these books are mine while others are going to be sold at the Skulk and Lurk," Doyle explained.

"So which is which?"

"That's for me to decide," Doyle replied. He went to a mini refrigerator and got out a can of soda. "Would you like a soda? Normally I'd offer a beer but I'm fresh out."

"I'll take one, thanks," Sam answered. Doyle tossed her a can and sat down across from her.

"So," Doyle started, "what do you want to talk to me about?"

Sam opened her can and took a sip. "It's about Danny," she said.

Doyle lifted an eyebrow. "The Phantom? What's he done now?"

"He hasn't done anything wrong," Sam replied. Doyle already knew about what happened in the spring and decided to keep a tight lip about it from the Observants.

"So what seems to be the problem?" asked Doyle.

Sam took another sip from her can before answering. "Danny is still upset about what happened in the spring. He's afraid that…it will happen again."

Doyle sighed before taking a sip from his can of soda. "I can see why he's nervous. No Phantom has ever had a mate in all of recorded history. They've courted, but never mated." He turned to face a corner of the room and, with a crook of a finger, a book floated into his arms. He opened it until he found the passage he was looking for. "48 BC: the Phantom intended to propose to Cleopatra but turned him down in favor of Julius Caesar." He then turned several pages. "1526: the Phantom tried to court Anne Boleyn but Henry the Eighth bought her heart through jewelry. I warned the Phantom that the king gets everything he wants but he didn't listen to me."

Sam was dumbfounded. "I can see why Danny seems so nervous. Everyone who meets the Phantom leaves him with a broken heart."

Doyle then closed the book. "And this just covers five hundred years. The second volume covers the 1600s to the present."

"None of the past Phantoms have ever had a mate?" Sam asked for clarity.

"None that we know of. Look what happened to those who broke the Phantom's heart. Tragedy follows. Danny is probably worried that you'll suffer the same fate," Doyle suggested.

"I would never leave Danny!" Sam exclaimed. "If this is what he's worried about then he's wasting his time!"

"And why do you say that?" Doyle asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Because I love him!" Sam proclaimed. "I was just as lonely as he was before we met. If I left him now then he'll be as lonely as before he met me and vice versa."

Doyle lifted an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason?" he asked.

"No," Sam answered. "He made me what I am today. I care about the environment after I found him on that beach twelve years ago. He cares about me and I care so much about him. I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Doyle smiled. "And that is why we know you're perfect for him. You've put your life on the line to protect him more then once. And he's kept you safe from the dangers of the sea. You're perfect for each other."

Sam smiled at that. "Think you can convince Danny? Without trapping him in a poem?"

Doyle pouted. "You just took the fun out of it."

Sam smirked. "I know about what you did to him when he was fourteen."

Doyle smirked back. "It worked, didn't it?"

~0~0~0~

"This guy is totally nuts," Daniel noted to Tucker as they watched _Silence of the Lambs_ later that evening.

"Yet at the same time, he's totally brilliant," Tucker added. "I don't know whether to root for him or not."

Both blanched at the next scene.

"I'm not rooting for him," Tucker croaked as he covered his eyes. "He's more crazy than brilliant."

"How is he able to do that much damage in a short amount of time?" Daniel asked his best friend. Both boys were now looking a little green around the gills (no pun intended).

Dick Tock came into the living room holding an envelope with no return address. "You two have mail," he said.

Daniel paused the movie and he and Tucker released a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Dick," said Daniel. "We really needed to take a breather."

"Now we can distract ourselves while the adrenalin wears off," Tucker added.

Dick gave Daniel the envelope. "This came for you while you two were out today," said Dick.

"Aren't you going to tell us what it says?" asked Tucker.

"Now why would I tell you that?" asked Dick.

"You're the Master of Time. Save us the trouble and tell us."

Dick gave Tucker a deadpanned look. "I respect your privacy by not saying anything about what you get in the mail because I already know what you get. I'm not about to tell you now."

"He's not going to tell us, Tuck," Daniel told his friend. He opened the envelope and took out a letter that had only one sentence written:

_Atlantis will know about the Phantom._

The color that slowly returned to the boys' drained from their faces again as they read the note.

"Looks like you're going to have to keep your guard up," said Dick.

"How could Atlantis know about what happened?" asked Tucker. "I haven't even said anything about it and you guys know I have a big mouth."

"And that's saying a lot," Dick muttered.

Daniel was having a hard time from not panicking. He looked like he was about to hyperventilate. He knew Tucker hadn't said anything to anyone about what happened. He trusted Clockwork not to say anything (Clockwork hated the Observants). Charles Doyle swore on his store that he would never say a word about it. Jazz wanted to be a shrink so she knew when to keep her mouth shut. Maddie and Jack were very protective of him so they were ruled out. Danny certainly knew Valerie and Sam hadn't said a word since they weren't merfolk. He was also sure Sidney Poindexter hadn't said anything about Danny despite their history (they recently buried the hatchet and became unlikely friends).

"This is not good," said Tucker. "Who could have sent this?"

"Take a good guess," said Daniel as soon as he pulled himself together. "Vlad obviously sent this. Who else could it be?"

"It could be anyone," Tucker answered optimistically.

"Everyone we know has been sworn to secrecy," said Daniel. "The only other person who knows about it is Vlad."

Dick decided to step in. "I can tell you this much: Vlad did send that letter to you," he confirmed.

"And you couldn't save us the trouble of telling us sooner because?" Tucker asked irritably.

Dick gave the dark skinned boy a deadpanned look. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not allowed to say anything regarding the future?"

"You've done it before," Daniel argued, knowing that Dick had given them warnings before.

"The first time was unimportant and it was to humor myself," Dick explained. "The second time was to give you a warning. Both those times did not interfere with the time stream."

Tucker then turned to Daniel. "What should we do, man? Should we tell Sam and Val?"

"We have to," Daniel replied. "They're just as involved as you are."

* * *

**Happy Independence Day, y'all! USA! USA! USA!  
**

**I thought there aught to be a little history to show Sam just how unlucky the past Phantoms are when it came to matters of the heart. **

**Okay, I'm trying to find a new song to add in but the only one that comes to mind is from a video game (which will remain unnamed) my sister plays. Problem is I can't find a good moment to put it in! Aaauuggghhhh! So frustrating!**


	7. Mermaid Watch

**Sorry for the delay, folks. Things have been going slowly for me. Maybe when school starts again, things will pick up speed. I've noticed that my writing comes more naturally to me when I'm in school. Weird.**

**Happy (belated) birthday to ReadWithYourEyesClosed! Sorry for it's lateness! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Mermaid Watch**

Valerie reread the note before passing it to Sam the following morning. The group sat at a picnic table on campus where they agreed to meet. Daniel and Tucker didn't get enough sleep last night and were exhausted.

"You sure Vlad wrote this?" Valerie asked the boys.

"For the last time, YES!" Daniel snapped.

Valerie kicked his leg in retaliation. "I don't care how little sleep you got. Don't snap at me!" she snapped back.

Daniel put his head on the table. "Sorry," he grumbled. "But I'm pretty sure Vlad wrote that letter."

Sam finally spoke up after reading the letter repeatedly. "If what I learned from grade school means anything, it means that we'll be hearing from Atlantis in the future. For all we know it could be a bluff. Vlad is probably trying to scare us."

"Mission accomplished," Tucker whimpered.

Valerie put the letter in a plastic baggie and put it her bag. "I'm going to hang on to this. If this turns into some sort of stalker case, we'll need this for evidence."

"You think this will turn into a stalker thing?" asked Tucker.

"Not really but we can't be too careful," Valerie replied. "I've watched plenty of movies and documentaries about these kinds of things and this can easily turn into one."

Sam glared at her friend teasingly. "That's the last time I'm letting you watch the Investigation Discovery channel."

"You watch it just as much as I do," Valerie replied.

"Only the shows that tell about the white collar aristocrats committing crimes and the like while still maintaining a perfect image," Sam defended.

"Sounds like your life at home," said Daniel.

"Except the only crime my parents ever committed was waking me up at the crack of dawn," Sam joked. Her three friends laughed.

~0~0~0~

It was one week before Labor Day weekend. Daniel and Tucker went into town to find 'something' for next weekend. Sam and Valerie decided to check out the beach to see how Paulina's 'mermaid watch' turned out.

"Well, at least no one has decided to get in each other's swimsuits," said Valerie.

"Speak for yourself," said Sam who gestured to a changing tent where they heard certain 'noises' coming from it.

Several students were already swimming in the water, including Paulina. It looked like they were looking for something.

"Are you sure you saw one, Paulina?" asked Star. "You could have had one beer too many."

"I know what I saw," Paulina defended. "I didn't get drunk until later that night."

"Still," said Star, "it would be pretty cool if they did exist. Was he hot?"

"As hot as the center of the earth!" Paulina exclaimed. "Imagine how he is in bed!"

"Yeah!" Star agreed but then stopped. "Wait, how are you going to pull it off?"

"Well, I would…" Paulina then paused. "That's a good question."

Sam heard the whole thing and crushed the soda can that she was holding. She didn't even notice that soda was spilling all over her hand. She was not going to let her arch-nemesis sink her claws into Danny's heart. _'Over my dead body!'_

"Sam, you crushed your can," Valerie noted.

"Did you hear what Paulina and Star were talking about?" Sam asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah and I don't want to know the answer to that question," Valerie replied. "Relax, girl. Danny won't leave you. He's been head over heels in love with you since you were kids."

"I know but I can't help but worry. You know how Paulina is," Sam said worriedly. "Do you know how many times she's stolen other girls' boyfriends?"

"I'm guessing it was a lot?" Valerie assumed.

"Almost every guy at my high school."

Valerie whistled. "She's a prodigy in prostitution!"

Both girls laughed loud enough to get Paulina and Star's attention. The two then waded to the shore and approached the Goth and the African American.

"Who invited you losers to this?" Star asked snidely.

Sam scowled. "When you put a flyer on the bulletin board for the whole school to see, it's pretty much an open invitation for anyone. You should have sent invitations instead of allowing the entire student body to come here."

"I didn't think losers like you would want to come," Paulina replied.

"We didn't," said Valerie. "We just wanted to see how pathetic this turned out."

"I know," Sam agreed with a nod, "Seriously? Mermaids? We're not in first grade anymore, Paulina."

"What's next? An Easter Bunny hunt?" Valerie joked. Both girls laughed.

Paulina's face turned slightly pink and wasn't due to the sun's rays. "You're just not as beautiful and sexy as I am," she said bristly. "They say merpeople only appear to those who they think are beautiful."

"Where did you hear that? _The National Inquirer_?" Sam asked skeptically.

"No. I read it on a blog," Paulina replied.

Sam and Valerie rolled their eyes. As much as they wanted to tell Paulina and Star how wrong they were, they knew they couldn't. The two outcasts would have to settle for fantasizing what the looks on their enemies' faces would be like.

~0~0~0~

Daniel and Tucker were at the pet shop buying fish food for the fish in Dick's apartment. The whole time the two were there Daniel was pondering what he should get for Sam.

Daniel was staring at the fish in the aquariums when Tucker approached him.

"Found the fish food," Tucker announced. Daniel just nodded, still staring at the fish. "Still figuring out what to get Sam?"

"Yeah," Daniel answered. "I've been asking the fish for ideas but they're not very helpful."

"What are they saying?" asked Tucker.

"'Buy me. Take me home'," Daniel replied.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"The fish in Dick's aquarium don't complain about their home," said Tucker.

"That's because they've got nothing to complain about," said Daniel.

Tucker nodded and changed the subject. "So, if the store fish didn't give you any ideas then what are you gonna do?" he asked.

Daniel ran his hand through his raven hair. "I honestly have no idea. I don't want to buy her something cheap or expensive. Buying something cheap is insulting to girls and Sam hates expensive presents, unless it's something she really, really wants," he ranted.

"What kind of exclusive expensive gift is she talking about?" asked Tucker as they walked to the checkout line.

"Tickets to a Dumpty Humpty concert," Daniel answered.

Tucker's jaw dropped. "Dude, you'd have to sell an arm and a leg to get tickets to that."

"Do you have any idea how to get tickets to a concert?" asked Daniel.

Tucker pulled out his PDA and checked the Internet. After Daniel paid for the fish food, Tucker found what he was looking for and frowned.

"There's a concert in San Diego but the tickets are sold out. Sorry, dude," said Tucker.

Daniel groaned as they stepped outside. "Is there _anyone_ playing in Amity Park?" he asked exasperatedly.

Tucker scrolled through all of the available performers coming to Amity Park. "Let's see… there's Chip Skylark," he suggested.

"Sam thinks he's mainstream," said Daniel.

"Justin Bieber?"

"I'd rather take her to see someone get a colonoscopy!"

"Justin Timberlake?"

"Do you want her to break up with me?"

Tucker continued scrolling through the list of performers but none of them were good enough to make a fun date with Sam.

"That's everyone for Labor Day weekend," Tucker sighed resignedly. "Got any other ideas?"

"I'm drawing a blank," Daniel moaned. "How can I make the girl I love feel special on the day we started going out?"

Tucker thought long and hard about it then got an idea. "I might have an idea," he told his best friend.

"Dinner and a movie is pretty cliché, Tuck," Daniel drawled.

"Hear me out," said Tucker. "I heard about this thing called 'karaoke'."

"What's that?"

"It's kind of like the choir auditions from last year," Tucker explained. "You stand on a stage with a microphone and you sing a song of your choice with the lyrics on a TV in front of you for guidance."

"Isn't that at bars and family restaurants?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Sometimes, but I did some digging and the country club that you guys went to during Fall Break last year is having a karaoke night on Labor Day," Tucker replied proudly.

"You think Sam would like me to take her to that?" asked Daniel. "She hates going there."

"But she doesn't hate it as long as you sneak in," Tucker replied slyly.

Daniel thought about it and a sneaky smile appeared on his face.

~0~0~0~

Sam and Valerie were returning to the boardinghouse from the ice cream parlor when they saw Paulina walking back to campus in her swimsuit. Her hair was disheveled from the wind and her skin was sunburned.

"Paulina?" Sam called out. "What the hell happened to you? Fall asleep while sunbathing again?"

"None of your business, loser!" Paulina snapped.

"Did you find your 'mermaid' or whatever you were looking for?" Valerie asked the Latina.

"I said it's none of your business!" Paulina repeated.

"That's a yes," the two said at the same time.

"Why didn't he come? I should have seen him," Paulina whined.

"Maybe Star was right," Valerie guessed. "Maybe you did have one beer too many."

"I know what I saw!" Paulina exclaimed.

"Really? In that case, I saw the Tooth Fairy doing the chicken dance at the supermarket," Valerie joked. Sam snorted in an effort to hide her laughing.

If Paulina could turn redder, she did. "I will find a merman!" she vowed and shoved past Sam and Valerie.

"She should throw those 'Mermaid Watch' parties more often," said Sam. "I've never laughed this much in a long time."

* * *

**It's not my best work but it will have to do. Sorry if it's short. I wonder if going back to school will kick my inspiration back into gear...  
**

**Again, sorry for it's lateness! Summer equals more distractions and more goofing off! **


	8. Preparation

**I'm still here! Ask and you shall receive! Here is another chapter for you all!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Preparation**

As soon as class ended on Friday, Sam had to go home to help her mother set up a fundraiser the country club was having on Labor Day. This left Valerie to hang out with the boys who were bummed that the Goth could not hang out with them for the long weekend.

"Sheesh, what's with you, Danny? You look down in the dumps," Valerie noted as she saw her friend resting his head on the front counter at the clock shop.

"He's just bummed because he doesn't know how to see Sam for their one year dating anniversary," Tucker explained. After Danny snuck into the country club last year, Pamela demanded that security be tightened during all special events.

"Don't you guys know any invisibility spells or something?" asked Valerie.

"Yeah but we can't do it," Tucker replied.

"What's stopping you?"

"It's a high level spell and only the more experienced magic users can use it without feeling wiped out," Daniel said grimly. "It works pretty well underwater but I don't know how it will do on land."

"Well, you have until Monday night to nail it, Danny, so get started," ordered Valerie.

It seemed to Daniel that Tucker wanted to try it out too. The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. It couldn't hurt to try. They then closed their eyes and began to concentrate. Their bodies soon felt…tingly. When they opened their eyes they were disappointed they could still see each other. They were snapped back to reality when Valerie burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Daniel.

"You…you didn't tell me you wore boxers!" Valerie laughed.

Both boys looked down and saw to their horror that they were only successful in making their clothes disappear. They could still feel their clothing on their bodies but the fact that they couldn't see them didn't offer much comfort.

"Mother of Triton!" Tucker exclaimed as he dashed into the bathroom.

"This has got to be the most humiliating moment in my life!" Daniel moaned as he sank behind the counter to cover what was left of his dignity.

"Not bad for a first try," Valerie giggled. She was still desperately trying to control her laughter. "At least I know now that Tucker prefers briefs."

"SHUT UP!" Tucker yelled from the bathroom. Valerie started rolling on the floor, laughing.

~0~0~0~

"And it took them how long for their clothes to become visible again?" Sam asked Valerie in disbelief over the phone.

"Over an hour," Valerie answered in-between giggles. "I had to lock up the shop because Danny refused to come out from behind the counter."

Sam laughed until her sides started to feel sore. Valerie just finished telling her about the boys' attempts at practicing their magic. For what, Sam did not know. _'Maybe Clockwork just didn't want them to get rusty.'_

"So what are you guys going to do while I'm trapped with my family?" asked Sam.

"I'll probably just work," Valerie answered as she moved her phone from one ear to the other. "The guys are going to work on their magic as well as work on their homework."

"Sounds rather boring, like me going to this stupid karaoke event at the country club with my parents," Sam grimaced.

"On a lighter note, have you been undergoing any new changes?" asked Valerie.

"So far nothing," Sam answered. "My legs are scaly, my neck has gills, my ears are fins, and my hands are webbed when wet."

"So what other changes do you need to go through?"

Sam thought about it for a moment. "Let's see… Danny has fins on his forearms and his hair is significantly longer," Sam recalled. "I should be using magic soon, unless I'm mistaken."

"What about a tail?" asked Valerie.

Sam rolled her eyes. "In case you've forgotten, that doesn't happen until we've tied the knot," Sam reminded her friend.

"Oh right," Valerie remembered.

~0~0~0~

Sam stepped into the shower to rinse off the following morning. The moment the water hit her skin her fish-like characteristics appeared. She made sure to lock her bathroom door in case any unwanted intruders walked in.

Her arm suddenly felt weird, like something was moving on it. She looked at her forearm and saw that fins were beginning to grow. Sam smiled a little. _'It's about time! I thought they'd never show up.'_

When she was done, she quickly dried off. It would take awhile for the fishy characteristics to fade away so Sam decided to do everything she needed to do in the bathroom until they were less noticeable. She dried her hair, put on a little makeup, and did a touchup on her nails.

About twenty minutes later, her scales had faded enough for her to come out of her bathroom. She quickly walked across her bedroom and into her closet to get dressed. She put one her black tank top and black skirt with green stripes. She pulled her bat winged pearl out from inside her shirt. It was still kind of warm for Sam's combat boots so she settled with her Nightmare Before Christmas flip-flops.

At this point there were no traces of her fishy features as her mother came into her room.

Sam scowled. "Have you ever heard of knocking?" she asked.

Pamela frowned. "Is that any way to greet your mother?"

"It would have been nicer if you knocked first," Sam grumbled.

"Let's go shopping for the Labor Day event," said Pamela, changing the subject.

"I'll just wear what I've got in my closet, thank you," Sam replied. The thought of going shopping with her mother made Sam cringe. She hated the bright colored clothes her mother always bought for her. Yes, Sam appreciated the thought but the colors just didn't fit her. She preferred darker colors. If she couldn't get black clothes, she'd usually settle for dark purples or other colors that were close to black.

"Sammy, you need to wear brighter colors," said Pamela. "Keep that up and people will think you're a serial killer or something."

Sam released a frustrated sigh. "Another Gothic stereotype," she said. "Just because I like to wear dark clothes, doesn't mean I killed anyone. You know I bet there are lots of Goths out there who haven't killed anyone, worship the devil, or even do drugs. I bet the worst thing they've done is stay out after curfew."

"Well, until I meet one of those Goths you just described, you're changing your wardrobe," Pamela decreed. Sam opened her mouth to say something but Pamela beat her to it. "You're my daughter so you don't count." Sam frowned at that statement.

Agnes then wobbled into the room with her cane. "For Pete's sake, Pamela, it's just a karaoke singing thing or whatever you call it!" she exclaimed to her daughter-in-law. "It's just a casual event. So casual I could probably go to it in my pajamas!"

"Well, the least she could do is wear something nice," Pamela argued.

"I don't give a rat's ass about what she wears," Agnes argued back.

Sam decided to seize the opportunity and quickly slipped out of her bedroom while her mother and grandmother were arguing. She ran out of the house and started walking down the sidewalk. Where she was going, she didn't know and she didn't care. She'd just walk till she got hungry and return home for lunch.

~0~0~0~

Both Daniel and Tucker were lying on their beds exhausted. They had spent all day practicing their invisibility spell and they only managed to make themselves invisible…but not their clothes.

Dick came in to check on their progress and did his best not to smirk. "Still struggling, I see," he remarked.

"Don't get us started," Tucker moaned. "First our clothes could become invisible but not us…"

"And now we can become invisible but not our clothes," Daniel finished.

"That's because the spell takes months, even years, to master," Dick told them. "You can't get it down in three days. Not even the past Phantoms could get this spell down at the drop of a hat. Even Dark Phantom had difficulty mastering it."

Tucker turned to his best friend. "Well, if anyone back home starts complaining about this spell, you can relate to them," he told him.

"Somehow, I don't find that very comforting," Daniel replied dully.

"Looks like you're going to need a third party if you want to sneak into the country club to see Samantha, Daniel," said Dick.

A small ray of hope lit up in Daniel's icy blue eyes. "Dick? Are you saying that you're going to help us?" he asked hopefully.

Dick gave the Phantom a deadpanned look. "I'm not going to help you break and enter a country club. If I did, the Observants would all have strokes if they saw that I had created a criminal record for myself," he explained dully. The small ray of hope was immediately extinguished from Daniel's eyes.

"Then who else can help us?" asked Tucker.

~0~0~0~

"You want me to WHAT?!" Valerie exclaimed into her shell phone.

"Carry our clothes into the country club and Tucker and I will follow you while we're invisible," Daniel explained a second time.

"You mean you guys are going to walk into the country club _naked_?" Valerie clarified.

"We're going to be invisible! You won't see anything!" Daniel exclaimed as his face turned red. He didn't like the idea either but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I don't care! That's still gross!" Valerie exclaimed.

Daniel sighed. "I'll give you fifty bucks to do this."

Valerie paused before answering. "One hundred," she haggled.

"What? If I do that I'll be pretty much broke!" Daniel exclaimed into his shell phone. "Dick hardly pays me anything!"

"I heard that!" Dick yelled from his study.

"Take it or leave it," said Valerie.

Daniel sighed again. He had no choice but to pay her. It still beat Tucker's way of payment. "Fine. A hundred it is," he said resignedly.

Daniel could imagine the victory smirk Valerie had on her face.

"Okay," Valerie said smugly. "See you on Monday."

~0~0~0~

Maddie and Jack found an uninhabited island and decided that it was the perfect place to get their land legs working again. When they changed into humans they quickly discovered how behind they were in the world of fashion. Maddie and her husband were still wearing clothes from the eighties.

"Dear Neptune! Is this what humans are wearing these days?" Maddie exclaimed, as she looked through a fashion magazine someone threw into the ocean a few days ago.

"I don't understand how I'm supposed to wear those monkey suits," Jack stated as he looked through a magazine that was swept into the water the other day. "None of these suits are going to fit me."

"What's wrong with them?"

"They're all too small," Jack answered. "None of these are going to fit me. It's not like the graduation ceremony is going to be held at the beach."

"I'm not sure if any of these dresses are good enough for me," Maddie said sadly.

"Aw, Maddie, don't be like – oooomph!" Jack tried to walk over to his wife to comfort her only for his legs to give out and fell face first into the sand. Maddie sighed and tried to walk over to help her husband up only for her to fall into the sand too.

"We've been away from land longer than I thought," Maddie stated.

"Might as well start practicing again," Jack said as he spat sand out of his mouth. "Hopefully we'll be able to properly walk again by spring in time for Danny's graduation."

"I hope we relearn just as quickly," said Maddie. "Danny said that he and Tucker managed to get their legs working in an hour. Hopefully we'll be able to learn just as fast even if we're older."

Jack tried standing up but fell in the sand again. His head landed near a hermit crab that pinched his nose extra hard for aggravating him.

As Jack slid through the sand, rubbing his face into the sand in a desperate attempt to get the crab off his face, Maddie face palmed and sighed. "This is going to take longer than I thought," she said to herself.

* * *

**It will take awhile but I'm slowly getting my inspiration back! School has started again so things should start picking up speed again. I'm glad you guys are still reading this. Things have been going slowly for me when it comes to this, I know. Please forgive me!**

**Well, back to class! Thank you all for your patience.**


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